Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Welcome back! This week’s installment of the Views was made possible almost exclusively by the good graces of Netflix, the two exceptions being the 1968 kaiju piñata DESTROY ALL MONSTERS (apparently out of print) and a brief dip into Oscar territory courtesy of a SAG screener of THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT. We continued our ongoing G-fest (though we certainly lost a bit of ground, only seeing 3 flicks this week – must needs pick up the pace) and banged out two more of Burt Reynolds’ oeuvre, as well as tagging two of 2010’s more notable horror releases. On the civilian side, it was essentially “independents week,” with features from auteurs Jarmusch, Araki, Cholodenko and Almereyda. Another wildly mixed menu, but enjoyable nonetheless.

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Being that last week was the great blizzard of 2011, it’s no real surprise that we got a few movies in. After all, what else was there to do? But it’s funny where inspiration for some of the viewing choices originates. Every 2010 pick this week came courtesy of the Little Red Envelope, one of those rare occasions where Netflix receives your returns the very day the new releases drop. Similarly, it’s often a matter of being in the right place at the right time, as a trip to the Chicago Public Library yielded the remainder of the civilian gems. Sometimes it’s as simple as glancing at your instant streaming queue and realizing that several of your potential Views all start with the same two letters, or it could be the late night screening of an exploitation class-sick (with director Bill Lustig in person!) And sometimes it’s the perfect storm of finishing a book on Toho sci-fi/fantasy flicks the last week in January, and a month-long kaiju festival suddenly programs itself (28 days hath February, 28 Godzilla films hath Toho).

Hope you enjoy the mumbling, jumbling ride – I know I did. As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

A month behind, but give me a solid snowstorm like the one we just had and I'll remedy things.

The first week (or so) of 2011 was one of utter randomness, perhaps to presage the mixmaster year to come. I certainly hope so. At first glance, I wouldn't be able to pin down my "tastes," and that's the kind of cinephile I'd like to be.

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth - we'll make sure you get some change back.

About Me

Well, during the day I move among you as mild-mannered Aaron Christensen, Chicago actor. But at night, when the popcorn pops full, I transform into my alternate personality Dr. AC, hopeless horror movie nerd-cum-Ambassador of Horror.
However, despite my inclination to discuss monsters that pervade, aliens that invade, creatures of the night, vampires that bite...I'm actually the nicest guy you'll ever meet.